Marine General: Close Gitmo

Andrew Sullivan shares comments from retiring Marine General Michael Lehnert, charged with setting up Gitmo in 2001, on The Daily Dish.

"Once they were out of the fight, I felt we had a moral responsibility to care for them in a humane fashion," Lehnert said. "I think it's extremely important how we treat prisoners." Lehnert recalled talking to young Marines who thought the detainees were being treated too well. "They said, 'They wouldn't treat us this way,' " Lehnert said. "I said 'You're correct, and that is entirely irrelevant. If we treat them that way [as they might treat U.S. prisoners], then we become them.' " Shortly after leaving Guantanamo, Lehnert said he concluded that the detention center should be shut down as soon as possible, a position that he holds more strongly now. "I think we should close it down," he said. "I think the information we're getting is not worth the international beating we're taking."

--Ballard Burgher